OMAHA, Neb. – Creighton came into his game against Seton Hall with a total of nine points after three wins, and history between the teams pointed to another close competition on Wednesday night.
Damien Jefferson scored in the 16 of his 19 season highs in the first half and No. 7 Creighton got off to a quick start en route to an 89:53 win over the Pirates.
« This one feels great, honestly, » said Jefferson. “As seniors, the older group, we talked about how to end teams. Sometimes when we get out of half we get laconic and go through the moves and the teams come back into the game. When you have games like this where you win by so many points it’s easier and it feels good. «
The Bluejays (9-2, 5-1 Big East) won their fifth game in a row with their biggest conference win since beating St. John’s 100-59 in February 2016.
The loss ended one Winning streak in three games for Seton Hall (8: 5, 5: 2) and was the most one-sided defeat for coach Kevin Willard in his eleven seasons.
« Every now and then you get knocked down and have to straighten up, » said Willard « This group did it. »
Denzel Mahoney had 14 points and Marcus Zegarowski added 11 for the Bluejays, who shot 59.6 percent and 54.2 percent on 3-pointers, both season highs in the Great East in second place behind Villanova.
The Bluejays made their first seven shots and led 17-4 in less than five minutes. Jefferson started 7-8 from the field and his 3-pointer brought Creighton with them 32:19 in the lead.
Back-to-back 3s from Mahoney and Zegarowski during a riot to open the tw At half time the pillow widened. The bulge grew to 42 points in the last three minutes.
« The start of the game and the start of the second half are so important in basketball, » said Creighton coach Greg McDermott. “Seton Hall was one of the best teams in our league in the first four minutes of the second half. I was really worried that they would come out of the locker room and try to throw the first punch and I really did talk to the team at halftime about if that wasn’t going to happen. «
It was the second game in a row that Jefferson had a season high for points. Last Saturday, he scored 18 in the 9-on-13 shootout in Providence.
The senior striker totaled 63.4 % and 50% on 3s in the Big East game. He also had four steals against Seton Hall and averages 2.7 in conference games.
« He worked really hard on his game, » said McDermott. » If you take away that 20 game stretch where his foot wasn’t right at the end of one year and early next year, this guy played incredible basketball for us. He’s got a hell of a career. Our fans will enjoy the fruits of his hard work and it is paying off for him and for us. «
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